Arabic Discourse, Linguistic Authority, and Islamic Knowledge

Abstract

This chapter outlines the use of Arabic by Wang Daiyu, Liu Zhi, and Ma Dexin, as well as the guiding principles behind it. I trace the shifting motivations that caused these scholars to employ Arabic and determine why they chose to utilize it in their writings. I argue that the use of Arabic became more prominent over time because Sino-Muslims found themselves in a shrinking world, where the global Muslim population was establishing more contact and communication between disparate local communities. Arabic acted as a unifier between divergent linguistic and cultural Muslim communities in both theological and practical levels. The language served as a means for social and religious positioning through the posturing of Han Kitab discursive models and linguistic revision. Han Kitab scholarship joined the perceived orthodox Islamic intellectual tradition through the use of an established discursive framework when employing Arabic.